The packaging of food of any kind has a generally two fold enhancement purpose: 1) preservation; and 2) salability. Both of these purposes are most evident when the food is a perishable food, such as meats, poultry, fish, fruits, vegetables and the like.
Food processors and packagers are in a continuous mode insofar as both of these purposes are concerned, i.e., they are continuously attempting to improve in both areas. One such attempt is shown in FIG. 1, which illustrates a meat product packaged according to a conventional method. Specifically, the package includes a tray 10 containing a food product 12 wrapped with a transparent film sheet 14. This package illustrates what is known as the overwrapping technique, i.e., the film sheet 14 is wrapped tightly about the food product and gathered under the tray 10 where it is allowed to adhere to itself due to its inherent holding quality (stickiness), or held by an adhesive. This type of packaging allows for maximum visibility of the food product. However, the package is somewhat unsightly, and especially so when the food product is of the meat variety. Frequently, these packages become saturated with liquid from the meat product (blood, for example) which adds to the unsightliness, and to consumer discomfort in handling the package. The film sheet itself covering the food product becomes wrinkled to a greater or lesser extent, which also contributes to the unsightliness of the package.
FIG. 2 shows an attempt by the industry to improve on the deficiencies of the packaging shown in FIG. 1. The package of FIG. 2 shows a preformed tray 16 containing a food product 18 covered on its top surface by a transparent film sheet 20. The tray 16 includes a peripheral flange 22 to which the film sheet 20 is attached, such as by a heat seal 24, leaving an overhang portion 26 of the film sheet. For this purpose, the film sheet 20 is heat sensitive. This package is an improvement over the package of FIG. 1 because it does not experience the unsightliness and handling problems found in FIG. 1. Still, it possesses its own unsightliness in the form of the overhang 26 and the wrinkling 28 which are inevitably formed close to the inner surface of the flange 22. Unlike the packaging of FIG. 1 the package of FIG. 2 is usually evacuated and back filled with modified atmosphere to some degree for better preserving the food product. In the process, however, and because of the nature of the material of the film sheet 20, the seal 24 around the flange, reduction of pressure due to gas absorption and colder storage temperatures, the film sheet 20 is subject to the wrinkling 28. The wrinkling 28 then contributes to the unsightliness of the package according to FIG. 2. It also detracts from an optimized visibility of the food contained in the package.
It would be desirable, therefore, to have a package with the food visibility of FIG. 1, the structural integrity of FIG. 2 but without the unsightliness of both the package according to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.